Carlene Blunt, a longtime donor to Penn Vet who established the Csaba Vedlik Equine Scholarship in 1999, was named Horsewoman of the Year in 1972. (Image: Courtesy of Carlene Blunt)
A legacy of equine veterinary care
For more than two decades, the Csaba Vedlik Equine Scholarship has offered veterinary students an immersive summer experience.
A genetic condition known as 22q.11.2 deletion syndrome is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia. A Penn Vet-led team found that a leaky blood-brain barrier, allowing inappropriate immune involvement in the central nervous system, may contribute to this or perhaps other neuropsychiatric conditions. (Image: Courtesy of Jorge Iván Alvarez)
The immune link between a leaky blood-brain barrier and schizophrenia
Research from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia points to the involvement of the immune system the brain as a contributor to mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
Vaccinators in Arequipa reported feeling safer within the booths compare to using only PPE. During a pandemic, reduced workforce meant hiring nonmedical personnel to perform vaccinations, so PPE protocols were harder to follow. (Image: Penn Medicine News)
In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide
A team of workers in Peru, led by Penn Medicine’s Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, led a two-month rabies vaccination campaign.
A mutation in the NPHP5 gene leads to a severe blinding disorder, Leber congenital amaurosis. Dogs with the condition that were treated with a gene therapy regrew normal, functional cone cells, labeled in red, that had previously failed to develop. The treatment led to a recovery of retinal function and vision. (Image: Courtesy of Gustavo Aguirre and William Beltran)
Turning back the clock on a severe vision disorder
Gene therapy triggered the regrowth of healthy photoreceptor cells and restored vision in dogs with a severe form of Leber congenital amaurosis.
New test can detect presence of gene doping in equines
A team of Penn Vet researchers have created and validated a quantitative test that is able to detect the presence of a gene doping agent in plasma and synovial fluid quickly and conveniently.
Humans aren’t the only species susceptible to COVID-19. A growing number of other animal species have become infected, posing a threat to the health of wildlife and domesticated animals, and in some cases exacerbating threats to people.
From animals to people and back again
Penn researchers are studying the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to cross between species, and they are working to protect people, pets, and wildlife from COVID-19 infection.
Through a newly funded grant, researchers across the University are developing a device that can rapidly detect COVID-19 based on the disease’s unique odor profile.
The parasite Cryptosporidium, transmitted through water sources, is one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease in the world. (Image: Muthgapatti Kandasamy and Boris Striepen)
Gut cells sound the alarm when parasites invade
A chain reaction led by cells lining the intestines tips the immune system off to the presence of the parasite Cryptosporidium, according to a study led by researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine.
